<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842</id><updated>2011-12-14T18:54:37.901-08:00</updated><title type='text'>cycletrip2006 Belgium to Italy via Germany, Switzerland,Austria and Slovenia</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>25</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115165973016410442</id><published>2006-06-30T01:38:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-07-07T04:09:12.280-07:00</updated><title type='text'>hostel life, and a days cycling around Munich...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1680.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1680.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1674.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1674.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1682.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1682.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1671.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1671.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1723.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1723.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1669.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1669.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1719.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1719.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1720.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1720.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/Image001.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/Image001.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; typical view from when I spent an entire week in the hostel in Munich... I didnt once get a full nights kip, as there was always some German footie fans chanting "BERLIN! BERLIN! WE RE GOING TO BERLIN!!!"... which I thought was really good of them at 400 in the morning... bless them... &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115165973016410442?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115165973016410442/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115165973016410442' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115165973016410442'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115165973016410442'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/hostel-life-and-days-cycling-around.html' title='hostel life, and a days cycling around Munich...'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115142425288099696</id><published>2006-06-27T08:45:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-30T00:34:46.373-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Beckhams freekick, and a very English evening..!  ;)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1657.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1657.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Rowan trying to steal something else... bloody hooligan that lad.  ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1662.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1662.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;with the English girls in town, turned out they were sisters&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1652.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1652.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; we met a couple of English girls whod been living in Germany for 15 years so went back into Munich center for some beers that evening and this storm formed and the heavens opened JUST after we got into a bloody good bar&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1642.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;rmany for 20&lt;br /&gt; celebratory burgers, as we d been sausaged upto Hell all day long...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1622.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1622.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; HAD TO BE DONE..!!! :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1634.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1634.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a mad footie pitch painted onto a hill..!!! GENIUS!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1624.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1624.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; After England had won it, thanks to Beckhams freekick... there was beer and sausage aplenty, and more followed that night..! :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1609.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1609.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Fan Fest&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1610.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1610.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;scene from the Fan Fest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1608.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1608.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; getting ready for the Eqcaudor vs England match at one of the many Fan Fests around the country. This one was huge, and was held at the Olympia Platz. Was great to be around so many English again, and all the flag waving and cheering was in good humour, with no trouble at all.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;this was after we had tried to get cheap tickets on the door of Bayern Munichs ground, and failed miserably..! Was good to see the ground tho, all lit up at night, but it started to rain heavily, and we found this umberella on the ground so claimed it as our own&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1566.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1566.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;..! Came in handy, and I now have it on my bike as an English Mascot..! (quality aswell..!)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115142425288099696?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115142425288099696/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115142425288099696' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115142425288099696'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115142425288099696'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/beckhams-freekick-and-very-english.html' title='Beckhams freekick, and a very English evening..!  ;)'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115132370106319320</id><published>2006-06-26T04:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-26T06:55:59.103-07:00</updated><title type='text'>MUNCHEN!!!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1591.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1591.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;English yob... ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1573.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1573.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; we saw Frank Skinner and David Baddiel in the beer garden, but they looked pretty chilled and we didnt want to interupt their day for a photie so I took this covert one..! Was good to see them over here for the World Cup!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1574.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1574.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; some guy tossing his caber.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1577.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1577.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;the Eternal Wave, where surfers come to ride, right on the edge of the park and the city... pretty cool place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1494.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1494.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this is the Chinese tower in the English Garden, with its own beer garden.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1497.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1497.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the are rivers like this throughout the gardens, with everyone piling into them and just floating for k after k around the place..! A lot of nudists aswell, as nudity is accepted in Munich.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1570.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1570.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a good old English lad I met in the hostel here and we teamed up for a week. Rowan was here to see some of the World Cup, and here we were in The English Garden, the largest public garden in Europe and very nice. Designed by an English bloke, to look English... good stuff..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1468.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1468.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this guy was fantastic..!!! he took some requests and played the likes of Mozart and Vivaldi amazingly well. got some good footage of him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1509.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1509.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a gay lion... dont ask...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1517.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1517.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at last..! I found a backpack to fit me..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1514.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1514.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; even the babies defend the Church from Evil, bless em...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1526.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1526.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a statue of Satan being slain by The Archangel&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1464.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1464.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the interior of one of the churches. this one was ALL white, except for a jet black pulpit...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1466.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1466.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; loads of old churches and such in Munich&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1455.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1455.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Just done 120ks straight from Fussen to the center of Munich and had a beer and a sausage in the middle of the Brazian and Oz supporters and my head went...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115132370106319320?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115132370106319320/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115132370106319320' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132370106319320'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132370106319320'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/munchen.html' title='MUNCHEN!!!!!'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115132175493948092</id><published>2006-06-26T04:29:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-26T06:52:29.020-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Up the Romantic Road to Munich</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1454.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1454.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; another river I took a paddle in to cool my feet off. good drinking ater top up aswell...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1451.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1451.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Japanese tourists are fastinated by hieght, and at times youre standing there with all these little people who want to be in a photie with you... they ALWAY at some point say "Peter Crouch"..!!! ARGHHHHH!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1452.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1452.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; another interior&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1448.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1448.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;i wanted to travel up a section of the Romantic Road from Fussen to Munich and see some of the many old churches there, so had detours aplenty. was WELL worth it as you can see from the interiors of these ones.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115132175493948092?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115132175493948092/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115132175493948092' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132175493948092'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132175493948092'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/up-romantic-road-to-munich.html' title='Up the Romantic Road to Munich'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115132073913427539</id><published>2006-06-26T03:56:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-26T06:48:14.566-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Nesslewang (The town I couldnt leave), Electric Storms and Fussen</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1423.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1423.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the view from the bridge by Ludwigs Castle...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1401.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1401.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this lad worked in a youth hostel and talked a few Oz girls into coming out with us for a late night drinking session.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1393.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1393.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;bike starting to get it a bit... the crank cover cracked as I took a hill and went into the side of the road... bikes holding up great in general tho... I have no complaints.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1389.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1389.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of the many lakes around Fussen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1379.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1379.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; ermmm... I didnt stay.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1405.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1405.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; another storm brewing... some good lightening here..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1443.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1443.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; glad to have reached the place were Id seen so many pictures of..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1425.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1425.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the fairy tale castle at Fussen of Mad King Ludwig II. The interior was unreal... the guy was a mentalist..!!! :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1349.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1349.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I camped wild behind her house one evening, but the weather turned really bad in the middle of the night and two lightening storms passed over. the tent got completely soked thru, me gear gor wrecked and at one point, I ran out into the lashing night in just my shorts, as a bolt went off so loud or close that the back of my neck went a bit "funny" and I had a girly panic attack. I hid in someones basement with a bloody big rat for over an hour then tried to find my way back to the tent in pitch black. then the second storm came over. suffice to say I got absolutley no sleep and was a bit shook up in the morning. I can laugh it now, but at the time by myself it was a tad hairy...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1437.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1437.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this was her father photo studio in the basement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1435.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1435.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; i spent a few days in Nesslewang and got invited to her parents place where they cooked up a fantastic BBQ and plied me with Weiss beer... its a hard job, but someone had to do it... they were all really kind and went out their way to see I had enough (beer)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1408.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1408.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Miriam was helping her father with some shots and I got talkin got her and we arranged to meet for ice cream and crazy golf after she finished.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1341.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1341.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of the photoshoot shots...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1340.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1340.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;Nesslewang was just another little town Id normally cycle on through, but as I past by, I noticed a photo shoot on the roadside as it was a holiday for dressing in traditional clothing around Bavaria.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115132073913427539?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115132073913427539/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115132073913427539' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132073913427539'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115132073913427539'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/nesslewang-town-i-couldnt-leave.html' title='Nesslewang (The town I couldnt leave), Electric Storms and Fussen'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115131938231952239</id><published>2006-06-26T03:38:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-26T06:37:19.926-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Back into good old Germany for beer and sausage..!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1329.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1329.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this roadside food just gets worse and worse... ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1325.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1325.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; gravy... :) always good to see these signs!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1324.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1324.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this guy saved my bacon with a few free bottle of beer, as the sun was particulary hot that day and I saw a large whirlwind (Draconfluch here) at the side of the road sucking up dirt and grass.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1323.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1323.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; fresh water for free everywhere..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1321.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1321.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a captive audience!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1314.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1314.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; a father and son I met on the way whilst staying at an old Spanish ladies house, so I got back into speaking Spanish for a good fews days there. these two were doing the pilgramge from Italy to Santiago on foot, not bike..! A good laugh aound the breakfast table that morning...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1301.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1301.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;everytime I cross a big river or stream, soaking my feet is essential..! I spent over two hours in this Alpine river as the scenery was gorgeous and had a cold beer... &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115131938231952239?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115131938231952239/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115131938231952239' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115131938231952239'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115131938231952239'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/back-into-good-old-germany-for-beer.html' title='Back into good old Germany for beer and sausage..!'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115115988388312908</id><published>2006-06-24T07:23:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-26T06:32:24.886-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The road up into the Alps...</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1262.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1262.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; had to get close to the edge at some point up there as the views were unbelievable..!!! From the summit, it was possible to see SIX countries at once. It was 2500m above sea level all in all and quite chilly but a beautiful clear day which was good for viewing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1256.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1256.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; JACK CONQUERS THE ALPS..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1253.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1253.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; these people have problems... the drop beneath them was massive.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1224.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1224.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; just about to crest it, we came over the drop and this was in front of us all of a sudden, and it was a good feeling to see the safety of the station!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1218.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1218.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; we still werent even near the top when I took this...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1215.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1215.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1215.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; putting on a brave face in the cable car, as most of the time I was holding the handrail. I was convinced it was just drop, and there were kids in the carriage trying to rock it to see what would happen... I didnt know the German for "Do you want to play outside?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1213.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1213.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; after 5 hours, I reached the point where I could get to a cable car, but had a serious trouser moment when I realised how high these mountains really are. you can just make out a cable car in the middle of the picture. (My trousers are fine now...) To reach the summit by cable car, even though I was already 1300m up, it was another 1500m suspended over a sheer drop... so my trousers went again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1210.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1210.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of those roads Ive always seen pictures of but never cycled, and I NEVER will again..!!! ;) The hill just does not end, its corner after corner after corner and it left me about 10 pounds lighter..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1206.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1206.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to get to just the base of the mountains, I first had to cycle uphill 1300m. It took about 5 hours, as the sun was so hot (again), and in places the road so steep that if you stopped, to get started again you have to be at a right angle on the road and turn up into the hill. I just couldnt turn the pedals otherwise... it was all great fun tho..! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115115988388312908?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115115988388312908/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115115988388312908' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115115988388312908'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115115988388312908'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/road-up-into-alps.html' title='The road up into the Alps...'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115107202436795838</id><published>2006-06-23T07:13:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-24T07:22:51.313-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Great Escape into Switzerland</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1196.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1196.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the son (sorry, but at the mo, I really cant remember the names!!! Ill update) is planning to travel the world with a friend for TWO years in this landrover they took apart and customised themselves... hes only 23 and had some proper knowledge about all things mechanical... his mate done they spray job. they were such great hosts and done a lot for me, and ill miss them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1193.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1193.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one the roadside just by their house, this was where lightening had struck a few years before. Also, he told me that one of the local farmers had had ball lightening pass through his barn, leaving a perfect circle through all the wooden walls there...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1187.2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1187.2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this is his son and one of his daughters, who set up a campfire and got me a few beers, and we watched a full moon come up over the Alps that night, and it lit them up so bright, but the photie came put a tad pants... soz about the blur, but I was drunk for a change...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1183.5.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1183.5.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this is him, with his brother who owned this restaurant in Appenzell. EVERYTHING in the picture that is made of wood, came from his buisness... they do some seriously quality work there, as he took me around the showroom and you could see they took pride in it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1181.4.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1181.4.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I went around Appenzell one night with the owner of the house who knew a lot of pople there, as he owned a very succesful carpentry buisness. He bumped into a friend who has an interest in bicycles from the WWII, this being one of them..! It still had the holster on it, and to brake you pedelled backwards, and as Id had a few, I nearly slammed it into a shop wall... Oh, how he laughed...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1177.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1177.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of the many different flowers they had gown in their garden, most were wild apparently.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1160.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1160.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; tent pitched, cue BBQs and Beers garcon...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1174.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1174.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I ended up staying a few nights with a really welcoming familly in Appenzell &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;whose house I called at to ask about camping nearby, but as always people here take you in and look after you. This was a shot of just part of their garden where I pitched the tent and had yet another great panorama of the big Alps, which were now only a days cycling away...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1159.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1159.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; As I got further into Switzerland, towards Appenzel, the scenery became more and more "perfect". Everywhere you look its like a painting, with perfect fields and farms.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/STB_1128.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/STB_1128.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Catherderal exterior...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1131.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1131.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Inside the amazing Cathederal in St Gallen... beautiful place with a breathtaking fresco on the ceiling...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1153.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1153.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Officially in Switzerland when I saw the flag..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1114.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1114.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;At Romanspoint, or nearby, with the Alps getting closer in the background..! Also, downing my first daily beers...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1111.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1111.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;saw this limited edition 100th anniversary Harley, and took it for my big three legged bro... hiya Paul lad..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1101.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1101.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; This was taken at the "check point" (really pants one) as I crossed from Germany into Switzerland... I had to ask to make sure I was actually in another country as you just roll on by..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115107202436795838?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115107202436795838/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115107202436795838' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115107202436795838'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115107202436795838'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/great-escape-into-switzerland.html' title='The Great Escape into Switzerland'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115106920887494300</id><published>2006-06-23T06:20:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T06:44:14.186-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The garden Island of Mainau</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1076.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1076.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the Triffids even look nice in Germany.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1073.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1073.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of the many lovely views from Mainau&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1066.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1066.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; wood statue detail&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1064.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1064.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; these statues were all over the island, and sometimes caught you by suprise... the poses on some of them were fantastic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1072.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1072.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; steps with water fall down them&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1060.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1060.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; fossilized tree trunk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1062.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1062.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; text for the fossilized tree trunk&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1054.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1054.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;reflection in a waterball.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1051.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1051.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; statues on a bench looking over their shoulders on the flower island of Mainau. It struck me, because a few nights before I drew this scene of two people on a bench looking over their shoulders at each other..!!! Freaky madness...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Mainau is basically an entire island that has been turned into a massive display of flowers, herbs, foliage of all sorts and a huge amount of trees from all over the world and its all been landscaped to feel idyllic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115106920887494300?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115106920887494300/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115106920887494300' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106920887494300'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106920887494300'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/garden-island-of-mainau.html' title='The garden Island of Mainau'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115106827075230079</id><published>2006-06-23T06:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T06:19:53.026-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Ferry across Bodensee to Konstanz</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1100.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1100.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Moonrise over Bodensee from Konstanz&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1088.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1088.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the guardian at the entrance to Konstanz Harbour... she reminded me of one of the staues from Sinbad or Jason...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1041.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1041.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;the goalie and one of the defenders I think. They kept trying to get me to sing Three Lions..! They love that song over here fo rsome reason..!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1040.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1040.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; met up with a travelling german footie team who were all on the razz, this guy was so far gone we piled up beermats on his head and I think we left him asleep in this Irish bar...&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1039.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1039.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; heavy police presence all around, but they never seem to be needed which is good.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1033.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1033.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Except for this one..! We shared a drink after with some of her friends aswell which was pretty cool.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1032.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1032.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;i went to an open air big screening of the opening game, which was fantastic. Another sweltering hot day, drinking beers surrounded by Germans and I painted a big red St Georges Cross on my face, but as you can see they took it all in good humour...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_1004.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_1004.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; getting the ferry from Meersburg to Konstanz &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115106827075230079?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115106827075230079/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115106827075230079' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106827075230079'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106827075230079'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/ferry-across-bodensee-to-konstanz.html' title='Ferry across Bodensee to Konstanz'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115106561528385105</id><published>2006-06-23T05:21:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T05:55:19.116-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Pfullendorf to Meersburg through the village of Salem</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0989.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0989.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Swan on the Bodensee.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0974.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0974.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; In Meersburg Castle, this was "The hole of fear" where prisoners where lower 35m down into a dungeon with no way out and left to die. There was some examples of graffiti found, with things like "Stop grumbling dear fellow, this could be worse and God will be with us soon"..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0951.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0951.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; baggy trousers, and over my shoulder Switzerland.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0965.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0965.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; In Meersburg Castle which was exceptionally old, there was this suit of armour among many, but it was famous for being one of the feared Black Knights, who meer presence apparently caused many trousers to be spoiled for miles around. I cant find the exact name of these knights tho, but they were really bad guys apparently, causing opposition to flee in terror as soon as they realised who they were up against... cool.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0981.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0981.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; chilling at night looking back into town from near to where I was camped out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0940.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0940.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Meersburg street scene.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0949.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0949.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Quite a name for an "Art" gallery. They really push the boundaries in Germany...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0930.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0930.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Meersburg water front on the Bodensee... an absolutley gorgeous town with view across to Switzerland and Austria and vast views of the Alps once again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0925.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0925.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; when I reached Meersburg, this dog summed up the feeling in the place... mello and nice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0913.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0913.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in Salem&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0912.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0912.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; approaching the village of Salem through the marshes with my bike was ace..! I liked the sound of the place, as Ive read Salems Lot and it didnt dissapoint..! It was quite a spooky place, with old crumbling gamble roof house and a single large spire... great stuff..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115106561528385105?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115106561528385105/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115106561528385105' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106561528385105'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106561528385105'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/pfullendorf-to-meersburg-through.html' title='Pfullendorf to Meersburg through the village of Salem'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115106515684956411</id><published>2006-06-23T05:18:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T05:19:16.926-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sigmarengen to my first view of the Alps..!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0909.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0909.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The old German couple who invited m to stay in their Orchard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0905.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0905.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; These were a few a the farm animals, the dog was Max and took a shine to me hen he spotted the food Id been given and followed me around as I investigated the woods nearby.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0879.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0879.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I pulled up at a farm to ask for water and the old couple who livd there said I could pitch my tent in their orchard which had unparrelled views of the Alps. I couldnt believe my luck, and then their son bought out some food and a couple of beers for me to chill out... I try to expct the unexpected, but sometimes things just surpass anything you could think up and its great. I got talking to the old man, and hed fought in the war under Hitler, and had had three of his fingers shot off. He kept telling me that he had spent a lot of his fighting time in snowy regions where the weather killed them off one by one. He must have seen some sights. A surreal moment was when he showed me how he used to Seig Hiel at the breakfast table..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0857.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0857.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Happy to have reached the Alps..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0877.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0877.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of my first views of the Alps from the ground, which knocked me bandy, after cycling down from Brugge all that time ago through the bad weather. It was a really good moment seeing them sticking up from over the horizon and I just sat and looked for over an hour on the roadside... a great day..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0852.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0852.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; One of the many staues outside the castle walls.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0856.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0856.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Sigmarengen Castle, where some Nazis and French Bigwigs stayed during the war. It has an elaborate history, and the largest private armoury in Europe, which included everything frmo German helmets to Samuri full body armour. Some of the broadswords there where bigger than me, and Im just over 2 meters tall. I also picked up a single section of knights armour and it was seriously heavy. They used to put on full leather covers, then put chainmail over that, and then put on full suits of armour... how the hell they then went to battle and fought is beyond me... Maybe they drank Vodka Redbulls before a serious kickoff...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115106515684956411?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115106515684956411/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115106515684956411' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106515684956411'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106515684956411'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/sigmarengen-to-my-first-view-of-alps.html' title='Sigmarengen to my first view of the Alps..!'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-115106312589493706</id><published>2006-06-23T04:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T04:50:06.550-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Heidelburg to I cant remember the name, but it was on the Danube..!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0834.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0834.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I really cant remember the all names of the various places I travelled thru to get to this 50k section of the Danube, but it was beautiful countryside all round. I basically followed the Neckar River which was stunning from Heidelburg thru to Heilbronn, then I think Tubingen and onto the town of Rottweil, of canine fame... from there I went southeast and got to this place which was like a farm with decent rooms in it, and we had evening meals around a fire whilst the lady of the farm cooked regional dishes in a kiln and over the fire. All the kids had lumps of dough on sticks and stuck them over the fire, and it tasted GREAT!!! :)  I THINK the section of the Danube was from Tuttlingen to Sigmaringen...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0842.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0842.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; moon shot and top of farmhouse.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0835.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0835.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;nice cliffs rose sheer out of the danube shores all along for 50ks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0837.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0837.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; cooking regional dishes in the kiln. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;I just remembered, I completely forgot to mention Stuttgart aswell, and have photies but will add them later as my memory stick filled up.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-115106312589493706?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/115106312589493706/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=115106312589493706' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106312589493706'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/115106312589493706'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/06/heidelburg-to-i-cant-remember-name-but.html' title='Heidelburg to I cant remember the name, but it was on the Danube..!'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114891853893758132</id><published>2006-05-29T09:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-30T00:41:21.296-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Heildelburg Castle</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0530.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0530.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; half of this round section had sheared away and was resting against the tower itself, so you could see inside...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0531.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0531.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; i loved this, parts of the castle were falling down, and there were single outer walls remaining that you could see the scenry and sky through, which gave the whole place a very "light" feeling&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0527.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0527.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0532.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0532.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0528.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0528.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; up in one of the castles many gardens... this place was so nice and mello...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0523.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0523.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; view down into town from the castle gardens&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0510.3.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0510.3.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0518.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0518.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0526.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0526.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Heidelburg Castle&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114891853893758132?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114891853893758132/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114891853893758132' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114891853893758132'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114891853893758132'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/heildelburg-castle.html' title='Heildelburg Castle'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114890017603514879</id><published>2006-05-29T03:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-10-08T07:29:31.206-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Mainz to Heildelberg</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0500.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0500.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;no idea what this thing is... some sort of welcoming man-monkey...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0504.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0504.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Heidelburg at night after a few dunkels...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0496.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0496.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;part of the university castle at Heidelburg&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0482.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0482.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I don´t know wether this is sinister or not...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0479.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0479.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;the huge tower as i was leaving Mannhiem behind&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0492.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0492.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;night evening light on a building in Heidelburg.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0477.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0477.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;in Mannhiem, the Borg made an appearance, carried out some group assimilations and probings, then left...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0481.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0481.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;attack of the telegraph poles...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0476.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0476.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;there was a festival in Mannhiem, and it took ages to wheel the bike through the pulsing sweating throngs...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0469.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0469.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I met this dude down the side of the Rhine. He basically has opted out of society, and was travelling up from Southern Spain and making his money by playing music on a flute he made himself. His dog was all over me and was called Liza, and rides around in the front of his bike, which can be seen in the background next to his tent. He also put a drop of oil on the chain for me, and it´s done wonders. (He was a bit of a space-cadet to be honest...)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0467.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0467.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Funny place name, also one for you Owen..!!! Notice the British place it´s twinned with..? Didn´t you live there..?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0474.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0474.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;mad fountain in Mannhiem. I met a couple from London here, and the bloke was giving it loads about the FA Final, and I had a hard time convincing him I was a blue... and then rubbing it in again..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0470.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0470.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Down the Rhine, this day was a cracker and really hot, so I dumped the bike for awhile and took off my trainers and socks and had a good soak for awhile... just what the doctor ordered...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0460.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0460.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;loading the bike onto yet another barge to cross a river... it´s sometimes nessecary to make these crossings two or three times a day, depending on how the paths are laid out...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0466.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0466.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;the bike is holding up well...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0463.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0463.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;another random block in the road... everyday something like this crops up at some point, some more difficult than others to get around or through. All good fun tho..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0462.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0462.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;just come off another ferry and getting help from a German couple.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0456.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0456.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;poppy field&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0450.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0450.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Wild flowers in the reserve.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0452.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0452.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Part of the Rhine that is a nature reserve is absolutely gorgeous. There were huge eagles, hares, pheasants, all sorts of different birds and cuckoos, and the path took me right through the lot of it. With the sun shinning down aswell it was a cracker.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0454.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0454.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The path suddenly deteriorated so fast, I found myself stuck in really thick clay. This stuff was so difficult to remove, I had to eventually call at someones farm and try to blast it away with water but it done nothing, so it was back to using a stick for about an hour. It was like glue...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0453.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0453.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;a large type of Heron I think... so much wildlife in this part of the Rhine.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;mad radar dishes from out of no-where...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0455.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0455.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114890017603514879?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114890017603514879/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114890017603514879' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114890017603514879'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114890017603514879'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/mainz-to-heildelberg.html' title='Mainz to Heildelberg'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114889840913362710</id><published>2006-05-29T03:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-29T03:26:49.143-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Mosel to Mainz</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0431.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0431.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;interior of a church I stumbled into in Mainz. It was a really impressive place with paintings over most of the walls and ceilings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0444.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0444.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Couldn´t work out if this was a bloke or a lass..? Damn big organ tho...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0421.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0421.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;there´s no escaping the games indus...  ;)  I´d love to hear John Vattic in German...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0432.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0432.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Detail of the ceiling of the church in Mainz.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0428.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0428.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Mainz old town... a really good selection of beer houses here, and I tried my first black beer...  :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0415.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0415.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Knobi Bon Bon...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0420.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0420.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mainz Dom. &lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0412.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0412.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At the top of the climb and knackered...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0413.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0413.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As we´d taken the wrong river, we had our work cut out first thing to get from the Mosel Valley up and over to the Rhine. It was a big climb that took us one hour just to get to the top, then we had to get across which was about 25ks, then we had to regain lost ground and get to Mainz... my legs were like jelly at the top but the ride down was class..!!! We ended up in a beautiful gorge that led into the Rhine again and it was good to see it..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114889840913362710?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114889840913362710/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114889840913362710' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114889840913362710'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114889840913362710'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/mosel-to-mainz.html' title='Mosel to Mainz'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114889734691549886</id><published>2006-05-29T02:43:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-29T03:09:06.926-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Cologne to Koblenz via the Rhine</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0404.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0404.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;this was German Corner, were Eberhard and I were too busy chatting about the WWII and instead of following the Rhine, we ended up 50ks down the Mosel..!!! It was a really nice region tho, with vineyards over almost sheer cliffs. Even mistakes turn out well..! You can see the Rhine going in the other direction, around the back of the monument.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0401.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0401.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn´t get this ladies name, but we had a good laugh at the campsite bar in Bad Briesig on the Rhine. I got some good advice about the trip down to Constance and also some free drink and good solid German food.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0409.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0409.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;this was a marker of how high the flood waters have reached on the MOSEL river. The reason we were on the Mosel was that we took the wrong bloody river (!!!) at a place called Deutscher Eck, German Corner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0407.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0407.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;this was Eberhard, which means "strong boar" apparently. he was 70 years old and totally commited to cycling. two weeks prior he completed a marathon cycle, then the next day embarked on cycing around Germany and was on his final leg to Munich when I teamed up with him as we were going the same way. He had some stories to tell, one of them being his serving in the army at the same place as Elvis. Also when I meet him again in Munich, I can have a copy of a photo of the two of them in the German base..! Also, he has a copy of a track Elvis recorded of a German song he used to hear the troops singing on the march. Good stuff..!&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, we´ve parted ways for now until I reach Munich, but it´s easier for me as I had a really hard time keeping up with him... 70 YEARS OLD!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0399.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0399.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;on the campsite, there was a convention of all these old Citoren cars, and the next day as I continued down the Rhine, loads of them kept driving up to the meeting... proper enthusiasts...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0398.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0398.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;in my tent, which is large, but my feet still stick out the end...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0389.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0389.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cycling down the Rhine with a break in the weather, I decided to chill out for an hour and ate some fresh bread and olives I´d brought from a market in the main square in Bonn...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0384.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0384.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;again...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0387.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0387.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I´ll say no more...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114889734691549886?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114889734691549886/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114889734691549886' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114889734691549886'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114889734691549886'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/cologne-to-koblenz-via-rhine.html' title='Cologne to Koblenz via the Rhine'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114838123304915790</id><published>2006-05-23T03:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-29T02:40:43.160-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Brussels, Namur, Liege and into Achenn GERMANY!!!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0378.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0378.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0377.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0377.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0367.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0367.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0369.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0369.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0368.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0368.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Close up of the Dom. Not Dom who tried to kill us with sweets in work...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0366.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0366.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; A view of the Rhine looking up river. I will be cycling in the direction that the white boat is pointing, and it should take me to South Germany towards the Alps.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0365.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0365.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; The bridge into Cologne which was completely destroyed by the Allies during the war. And the huge Dom in the background which they tried to avoid bombing because of how impressive it is. It took more than 600 years to complete... Like some computer games I've worked on...cough...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0364.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0364.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Just arrived at Cologne and well chuffed..!!! Got myself some Kolsch and 3 meddalions of pork which was bang on...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0362.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0362.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; mello&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0360.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0360.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; West German backroads... sorted for cycling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0358.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0358.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Turkish lad Eugene, helped me get out of crazy Achen..!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0357.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0357.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; French lad Timore, good taste in music..!! Deep Purple and ACDC etc...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0356.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0356.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; heh heh... Ausfahrt...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0355.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0355.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; view tower at Three Stone Point.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0354.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0354.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at the Three Stone Point, where the borders of Belgium, Holland and Germany converge... It is the highest point in holland, at over 300m.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0353.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0353.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; quality...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0350.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0350.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; heh heh...Hombourg...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0343.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0343.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in middle of nowhere just before I got seriously lost in some woods,I saw this photoshoot... random madness..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0352.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0352.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; just before crossing the German border, knackered and glad of a good feed and pint.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0340.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0340.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; more debris from the storms blocking the paths .&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0338.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0338.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; bullet holes... they must have taken some barrarges here...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0337.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0337.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the bunker&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0333.2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0333.2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; km after km of cyclepath is flooded, as the weather has been really stormy for three days solid, with strong winds, normally bloody head winds, lighting and heavy rain constantly. Trees have been blown over all over the place and a lot of roadside crashes aswell which doesnt bode well..!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0336.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0336.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the text at the bunker near Liege&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0323.2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0323.2.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;this was Rich, an Autralian who was also cycling solo,but around Belgium and France. He has also cycled across the Nullabor Plains in Oz, which I might do next year if I make it thru this one...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114838123304915790?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114838123304915790/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114838123304915790' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114838123304915790'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114838123304915790'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/brussels-namur-liege-and-into-achenn.html' title='Brussels, Namur, Liege and into Achenn GERMANY!!!'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114838071182918443</id><published>2006-05-23T03:07:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-23T03:38:31.840-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Antwerp to Brussels</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0319.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0319.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Brussels at night,was gorgeous with all the buildings lit up&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0316.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0316.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; shopping center&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0315.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0315.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; something tells me this was a bar for men who like their men hairy... what a name! L Homo Erectus..!!!  LOL!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0270.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0270.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; shopping center&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0275.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0275.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; church in Brussels&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0308.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0308.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; the EU where I filed a complaint for them to get their fingers out...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0299.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0299.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; an origional Heironymous Bosche painting... amazing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0314.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0314.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; I think I passed out when I saw this..!!! I remember the horror of it all trying to do the translations... Uuhuuuhuuhh... lol&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0253.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0253.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this fella had already cycled direct from Belgium to Rome, and it took him six weeks. He got me a beer and we discussed possible changes to the route, as he said it's a difficult one thru Slovenia and Tuscany is a killer apparently...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0250.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0250.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; saw this ship on the canal from Antwerp to Brussles, and sure its the one from Albert Dock!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0267.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0267.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Happy to be in Brussels..! The main sqaure is amazing...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0258.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0258.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; at times the path gets completley lost for various reasons,but its good trying to pick your way if the weathers good, if its not it makes a big difference.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0268.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0268.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;beer shop&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114838071182918443?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114838071182918443/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114838071182918443' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114838071182918443'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114838071182918443'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/antwerp-to-brussels.html' title='Antwerp to Brussels'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114837848029022878</id><published>2006-05-23T02:49:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-29T02:28:15.396-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Antwerp</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0245.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0245.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;this crane was trying to roll a ship that had rolled completely over and apparently killed two men onboard. tv camera crews were there to catch it all...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0239.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0239.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; mad&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0236.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0236.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; centre square&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0234.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0234.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; center spire of Antwerp&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0231.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0231.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; these cyclists took me under their wing and led me into Antwerp after Id been cycling all day. I was completely knackered, and fell behind... they were all over 50 and like rockets.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114837848029022878?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114837848029022878/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114837848029022878' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837848029022878'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837848029022878'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/antwerp.html' title='Antwerp'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114837773302690046</id><published>2006-05-23T02:29:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-23T02:48:53.043-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Gent and Saint Amains</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0228.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0228.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; these other two cyclists helped me with directions and advice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0222.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0222.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; pitched my tent in this farm, and had to handwash all my gear. this lady knewhow to talk for hours.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0219.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0219.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; taking a roadside break, doesn't look it but it was roasting&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0221.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0221.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on the ferry&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0209.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0209.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Gent lighting&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0220.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0220.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; waiting for the ferry to cross the canal. ferries in Belgium are free as there's so much water to cross!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0201.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0201.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; castle in Gent&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0207.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0207.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Gent architecture&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0197.0.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0197.0.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this was the very start of the cycle paths on the way from Brugge to Gent, at the start of my first days cycling.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114837773302690046?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114837773302690046/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114837773302690046' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837773302690046'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837773302690046'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/gent-and-saint-amains.html' title='Gent and Saint Amains'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114837612132573532</id><published>2006-05-23T02:12:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-23T02:28:09.123-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Brugge</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0195.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0195.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Aye, after a few beers she convinced me I needed a face mask from Korea... &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0193.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0193.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; this is You Jin from South Korea, sharing a beer before the FA Final. She later gave me a pendant she wore to put on my bike for good luck. It's on the front of it now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0173.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0173.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; typical Belgian beer shop,where I spent about 12 hours...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0159.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0159.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; canals and little rivers run all over Brugge&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0188.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0188.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; one of the many spires in Brugge&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0154.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0154.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; another one...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0157.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0157.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; some kids I met in the hostel, Rocket Charlies, between us we spoke about 11 languages which got confusing but a good laugh.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114837612132573532?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114837612132573532/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114837612132573532' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837612132573532'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837612132573532'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/brugge.html' title='Brugge'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114837508801010233</id><published>2006-05-23T02:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-23T04:34:58.370-07:00</updated><title type='text'>start of trip</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0149.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0149.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;this is the morning of the trip at around 5.30, hence the expression of blankness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had to cycle thru London during the morning rush, which was crazy, but met a cyclist from Hoylake who led me thru &lt;a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0152.1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0152.1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;the traffic... Also,as I was waiting at London Waterloo for the Eurostar, Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall of River Cottage walked right past me and gave me a cheeky grin, like hed just given a bird a quality stuffing...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114837508801010233?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114837508801010233/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114837508801010233' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837508801010233'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114837508801010233'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/start-of-trip.html' title='start of trip'/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114734055351383028</id><published>2006-05-11T02:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-11T02:49:38.003-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/statue.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/statue.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/sewer.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/sewer.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/therapy.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/therapy.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/outside.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/outside.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/disused.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/disused.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/dormroom.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/dormroom.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/pencil%20meanmachine.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/pencil%20meanmachine.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/laundry.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/laundry.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/puppet2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/puppet2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/puppet.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/puppet.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;work example section&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114734055351383028?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114734055351383028/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114734055351383028' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114734055351383028'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114734055351383028'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/work-example-section.html' title=''/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27882842.post-114728484121830492</id><published>2006-05-10T11:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-10T11:20:54.923-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/1600/IMG_0006.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/975/2944/320/IMG_0006.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;second test for photo upload... 10/05/06&lt;br /&gt;this is next doors ginger cat, Tom The Hom.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/27882842-114728484121830492?l=cycletrip2006.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/feeds/114728484121830492/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=27882842&amp;postID=114728484121830492' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114728484121830492'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/27882842/posts/default/114728484121830492'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://cycletrip2006.blogspot.com/2006/05/second-test-for-photo-upload.html' title=''/><author><name>marc stewart</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='15' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_SICt9Uj0BGo/S4rbJx6MjvI/AAAAAAAAMS4/tQvZC9sboXk/S220/aboutmephoto.png'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
